The ruling comes as U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy will suspend federal funding to New York State.
New York City has won a temporary probation in a legal battle with U.S. President Donald Trump, who threatens to withhold federal funds from New York State unless the city ends its congestion pricing program.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman held a hearing on the matter on Tuesday and approved a temporary restraining order that would keep the plan running until at least June 9 as government and state officials fight in the future of congested pricing.
A day ago, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said he believed the federal government would reject approval from the state government, which would freeze contracts for road and bus projects.
The judge said that despite federal opposition, the City’s Mass Transportation System (MTA) as a state-level agency “displays the possibility of success.”
The court said it was because the plan had been reviewed by state, local and federal agencies, according to the New York Times.
"The relief of traffic jams is completely legal. The opponent has exhausted all the theoretical points against the plan, and now the increasingly ancient theories are flat."
New York Governor Kathy Hochul called the judge's decision a "huge victory" for New York commuters.
"So, here's the deal: Secretary Duffy can make as many letters and social media posts as possible, but the court has prevented the Trump administration from retaliating against New York to reduce traffic and invest in transit... Congestion pricing is legal, we are working on, we are driving the camera," the governor's office said in a statement.
“It’s really frustrating that we shouldn’t be in a place where the federal government is trying to stop New York State from making its own policies and trying to blackmail New York State, when it doesn’t follow its (US Department of Transportation) leaders, Alexa Sledge, Alexa Sledge, Alexa Sledge, Aldecacy Group Transportation Alternatives Director, told Al Jazeera.
New York State launched the program in January. Drivers must pay a $9 per day congestion pricing toll during peak hours in parts of Manhattan. The state has developed the plan to cut congestion in the U.S.’s most populous cities and raise funds for New York City’s mass transportation system.
"New York State should be able to make its own laws, they should be able to run on their own streets. So, hopefully that's over," Slaitch said.
It has achieved many goals since the program started earlier this year. In a month of traffic jams, subway rides increased by 6% and bus rates increased by 9%. Traffic fell 11%.
In March, the MTA predicted that congestion pricing would generate $500 million in revenue for the system, which will fund many new transit system projects, including station upgrades and zero-generator buses. At the time, a poll by Siena Academy found that 42% of New Yorkers wanted to keep the program, while 35% wanted to get rid of it.
Neither the MTA nor the U.S. Department of Transportation could comment immediately.